New mustang supercar?

[HSE2]

GTD ?

[WASP]

Initial details released. Initially, I thought this was a hoax..lol

https://www.ford.com/performance/mustang-gtd/?

Street-legal, track-ready supercar power with a 5.2Ltr, Supercharged 800hp front-mounted engine.

Its claims power is transmitted through a lightweight carbon fiber driveshaft connected to an 8-speed rear transaxle, for near 50/50 weight distribution.

GTD projected availability late 2024/early 2025. This seems like a final edition style Mustang 'GTHO' of sorts, or should I say GTD for 'GT Daytona'. This is epic.

[HSE2]

Wow

[HSE2]

In a media statement, Ford's chief program engineer – Greg Goodall – said the car maker's aim is for the Ford Mustang GTD to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in less than seven minutes, a time which would rival the likes of the Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG GT and Lamborghini Aventador.

The US car-maker has estimated the Ford Mustang GTD will be priced from $US300,000 plus on-road costs – equivalent to almost $470,000 in Australian currency.

Obviously not for our market

[HSE2]

Well, for starters there’s a giant dry-sumped 5.2-litre supercharged V8 up front that revs to somewhere above 7,500rpm and puts out over 800bhp, making this the most powerful road-legal Mustang that Ford has ever built. Thanks to Balance of Performance regs, it’s much more powerful than the Mustang GT3 racer that inspired it too. That engine is then connected to a carbon fibre driveshaft and powers the rear wheels through a rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch Tremec gearbox. Weight distribution should be close to 50:50, and the whole thing is over 10cm wider than a standard Mustang. Pretty much every panel you can see except for the doors is made from carbon fibre.
Here’s where things get really exciting though, and you’ll have to allow us to nerd out for just a moment. The GTD uses Multimatic’s adaptive spool valve damper technology with hydraulically actuated dual spring rates and height. What that essentially means is – in a similar way to the old Ford GT – the Mustang GTD’s ride height will drop by nearly 40mm when you put it in Track mode. Oh, and there’s no boot because that’s taken up by the inboard rear suspension setup, the hydraulic control system and the transaxle’s cooling system. Yeah, this is a properly serious Mustang.

Source Topgear

[HSE2]

What else do we know so far? Well, there are humungous Brembo carbon ceramic brakes hiding under 20-inch forged magnesium wheels, and the active rear wing combines with hydraulically controlled flaps behind the front grille to manage downforce. There’s a giant rear diffuser too, plus a titanium exhaust system supplied by Akrapovic and sticky Michelin Cup 2 R tyres.
To save weight (and because of the lack of a boot in the usual spot), the rear seats have been removed to make way for a wee bit of luggage space. There are Recaro seats inside too, as well as 3D-printed titanium paddleshifters that are apparently made from old bits of Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter jets. Very cool.
Sounds like the GTD really was a proper after-hours, skunkworks project too with just a handful of people working on it in a secret garage hidden behind the windtunnel at Ford’s base in Allen Park. Given the noise that the firm is now making about its supercar-shredding performance though, even your nan will be aware of the GTD’s existence soon enough. Or at least she will be if she’s in to Nürburgring lap times. Chief engineer Greg Goodall tells TG that the aim is for a sub-seven-minute lap at the Green Hell. For context – the new 911 GT3 RS has set a ridiculously rapid benchmark of 6m 49.3s.

Source Topgear

[HSE2]

What do we think of Ford doing a hero car like this in these times.

[WASP]

As a limited-run, highly niche purpose-built vehicle, I don't have an issue with it.

That all being said, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to hoping the GTD might have been used as a development platform for a new hybrid V8 or some other alternative power source that would then trickle down into future Mustang coupe models.

P.S. Sorry about editing your post by accident, Ian. All is restored now.

[galaxy xr8]

I think it's great for Ford on a global scale, to show case the engineering ingenuity, especially considering the massive damage control they now face with what has seen the new generation Mustang a flop here in Australia in supercar guise, albeit a different supercar namesake but still.

I can only imagine the fruits that could have been had, if there was no disparity like that we see in our Australian series of supercars, and the Mustang was capable of showing not only Australia but the world how performance orientated the new Gen Stang is, and then to have this thing hit the scene.....

[Donut King]

From my perspective, this is a statement of intent the likes of which we haven't seen from Ford perhaps since the original GT40. As a Ford fan it's pretty bloody exciting place to be.

I mean we've seen GT cars since then, concepts like the GT90, the production GT's of the mid '00's and 2010's which have appeared commercially successful and with some success at Lemans, this is a whole different level.

My ears pricked up back with S650's launch where they mentioned they were going back to Lemans and I wondered what that would look like. I would never have dreamt it was leading somewhere like this.

To compete outright at Lemans in a current hypercar there's not much of a relevance back to a road car offering that doesn't really lend itself to a Mustang style offering. That obviously changes in the GT kind of classes that have been dominated for so long by the 911.

But a 911 and a Mustang aren't really comparable. Or at least they weren't. The beloved pony car has never really been in the pure sports car style mould. S550 took a half step there, S650 seems to be leaving the half step safety net behind.

The sports credentials have been turned up to 11, or so we thought. GTD may just make that 15. There's a range of offerings that are unprecedented. Who really saw this coming?

This is special. I'm floored. It's something Ford claimed to still embody. We saw pockets of it in GT-F, the Falcon Fanatics with FGX's launch, in Sprint. In S550 if you watched the "A faster horse" documentary, in the S650 launch which was very fan focussed.

We saw pockets. Never any evidence that those pockets could produce something like this.

I can't wait to see a car like this on track at the Bathurst 12hr. This makes me proud to be a Blue oval supporter again.